Printing telegraph keyboard



March 2, 1965 1.. c. ANDERSON, JR.. ETAL 3,171,890

PRINTING TELEGRAPH KEYBOARD Filed Dec. 14. 1961 5 Sheets-She et l Q; QINVENTORS' E LOUIS c. ANDERSON JR. BY ARTHUR A. HAGSTROM ATTORNEYPRINTING TELEGRAPH KEYBOARD 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14. 1961INVENTORS LOUIS C. ANDERSON JR. ARTHUR A. HAGSTROM ATTORNEY 5Sheets-Sheet (5 swS RRG

9 TEH I mm.

w V A f m 1/, U

-w 7 WR l 5 LA 8 ATTORNEY March 2, 1965 c. ANDERSON, JR.. ETAL PRINTINGTELEGRAPH KEYBOARD Filed Dec. 14, 1961 March 1965 c. ANDERSON, JR.. ETAL3,171,390

PRINTING TELEGRAPH KEYBOARD 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 14. 1961 m N mssT RG N A E H N. AA U SH T 0R m llllf m 5 2 m m m m 3 W 2 m m m J m m mm"1H1 W a f; w m I 3 G 6 FIG.

ATTORNEY March 1965 L. c. ANDERSON, JR.. ETAL 3,171,890

PRINTING TELEGRAPH KEYBOARD 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 14. 1961INVENTORS LOUIS C. ANDERSON JR. ARTHUR A. HAGSTROM FIG. 9

FIG. IO

66% I63; u 35J H ATTORNEY m d SW8 F m 3,171,890 PRINTING TELEGRAPHKEYBOARD Louis C. Anderson, Jr., Arlington Heights, and Arthur A.Hagstrorn, Hoffman Estates, Ill., assignors to Teletype Corporation,Skokie, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 14, 1961, Ser. No.159,324 11 Claims. (Cl. 17825) This invention relates to printingtelegraph keyboards and more particularly to keyboards for permutativelyactuating contacts to control the generation of telegraph code signals.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple andinexpensive keyboard for printing telegraph apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a keyboardmechanism for printing telegraph apparatus at the lowest possible costconsistent with reliable opera tion.

Another object of this invention is to provide a keyboard mechanism forprinting telegraph apparatus which uses a minimum number of differentlyshaped parts thereby to make manufacture of the parts as economical aspossible.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a keyboardassemblage for mounting on the framework of a telegraph printer whichcomprises a plurality of sheet metal and molded plastic parts all ofwhich may be assembled as a unit without the use of any tools and thenbolted to the framework of a telegraph apparatus.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a keyboard assemblageformed of a plurality of sheet metal parts which may be punched fromsheet metal stock and assembled with plastic molded parts to form acontact operating arrangement assembled completely without the use oftools.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of molded plasticT-levers so formed that they serve as pivotal supports for a pluralityof pairs of code bars and also serve to position and guide the code barsduring the selective operation of the code bar pairs.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a keyboardassemblage is provided which may be assembled without the use of tools,screws, rivets, or welding operations and which comprises a sheet metalbox-like structure formed from a single sheet to provide a bottomportion and two side portions of key and code b'ar guiding andsupporting assemblage. The upwardly bent sides of this box-likestructure have slots formed in them for receiving a plurality of keymembers and for guiding the key members in rectilinear paths forcooperation with a series of code bars that are disposed transversely ofthe key members which are movable in the slots. Alternate ones of theslots extend to the upper end of the sides of the box-like structure andare open-ended while the other slots are in the form of perforations orclosed-ended slots to facilitate the assembling of the apparatus. Thekey members are rectilinearly urged to their unoperated positions byleaf springs individual to them. The springs are formed from a singlesheet of spring steel that is held on the bottom of the box-likestructure by the tension exerted on the sheet of spring material by tabspunched and formed from the bottom of the sheet metal box-likestructure. Pivot rods have molded T-ievers freely oscillatable on themand the rods are snapped into the sides of the box-like structure andsupport the T-levers for free oscillation to coordinate the operation ofpairs of code bars pivotally attached to the T-levers. The code bars areheld in place with respect to the T-levers solely by slots in the baseof the box-like structure and by integrally formed portions of theT-levers are also connected by tie bars pivoted on them. There are twopivot rods, one

3,171,896 Patented Mar. 2,1965

adjacent each end of the box-like structure and the T- levers and codebars with their associated tie rods are formed from sheet metal stockand are interconnected by the T-levers in such manner that when one codebar of a pair is depressed, due to the codecut int'o,it,by an actuate'dkey member, the other code bar of the pair will rise and the T-leverw'ill either open a contact associated with it or will permit thecontact to close. The sides of the box-like structure also serve tosupport, with a snap-fit, a universal code bar and other keys and isalso formed to provide supporting lugs which may be attached to acasting or molded part forming the main base of the printer. A contactassemblage, aligned with the .T-llevers for operation thereby, is alsoattached to thesides of the box-like structure with a snap-fit wherebythe entire assemblage prior to beingmounted in the keyboard framework ofa printing telegraph printer is assembled completely Without the use ofany tools.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered in the conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printing telegraph apparatus having akeyboard assemblage, constructed in accordance with the presentinvention, mounted in it;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the keyboard assemblage partsbeing broken awayto illustrate more clearly those parts in back of thebroken away portionsj FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail view, somewhatsimilar to a portion of FIG. 2, showing the code bars in a differentposition than that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail view, in perspective, looking upwardly atthe bottom of the box-like structure and illustrating the manner inwhich the contact assemblage and the leaf springs are mounted on thebox-like structure;

FIG. 5 is a detail view, in section, through a portion of the box-likestructure illustrating the manner in which the restoring springs aremounted on the bottom of the box-like structure;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view, on a greatly enlarged scale,of one end of a pair of code bars and a tie bar and showing the mannerin which the code bars and tie bars are connected together by theT-lever and Show ing details of construction of the T-lever;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows along the line 7-'7;

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view through the assemblage taken alongthe line 8--8 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 99 of FIG. 7 in the direction of the arrows showing themechanism whereby the keys initiate a cycle of operation of the printer,and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary plan sectional View taken substantially alongthe line 1010 of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows. q

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference charactersdesignate the same parts throughout the several views, and particularlyby referring to FIG 1, it will be seen that a keyboard 11 is providedthat is designed for utilization primarily in a printing telegraph pageprinter which includes, in addition to the keyboard 11, a main casting12 on which there is mounted a dis tributor 13 which may be of anysuitable type hutwhich preferably is of the type described in detailandclair'ned in the copending application of K. Alonas, A. Hagstrom andB. J. Sobczak, Serial No. 159,328 filed December 14, 1961, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference insofar as isnecessary for an understanding of this invention. 7

The keyboard 11 may be used simply as a transmitter controllingkeyboard, but as pointed out hereinbefore it is primarily designed foruse with the page printer illustrated in FIG. 1 which includes a platenassemblage 14 for cooperation with a type wheel assemblage 15 that maybe operated under control of signals generated by the distributor 13 toprint a home record of any message transmitted by the distributor 13under control of the keyboard 11. The specific type of page printershown in FIG. 1 is disclosed in detail and is claimed in the copendingapplication of W. J. Zenner, Serial No. 159,330 filed December 14, 1961the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference insofar asis necessary for an understanding of this invention.

In the keyboard there are provided a plurality of character keys 16having molded plastic keytops 17 attached to key stems 18 which areformed integrally with crossmembers 19 and with depending portions 20.The key members 16 comprised of the stem 18, cross-member 19 anddepending portion 20 may be punched from sheet metal stock and thekeytop 17 may be assembled on the stem 18, as illustrated in FIG. 8, bysimply forcing it downwardly onto the stem 18. The stem 18 at its upperend is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed top lockingprojections 21 and is reduced in width to provide shoulders 22, wherebywhen a keytop 17, having a stem receiving slot 23 in it, is forced ontothe stem 18, it will be held in place thereon by tension. In molding thekeytop 17, the slot 23 is made slightly smaller than the reduced upperend of the stem 18 whereby when the keytop 17 is forced onto the stem18, it will be held in place thereon by the cold flow, of the keytop 17back to its normal size after having been expanded to force it over theprojections 21. The cross-member 19, as viewed particularly in FIG. 8,is provided with a notch 26 which serves to hold the key member inposition in a box-like structure 24 which forms the main supportingframework for the keys during the assembling of the keys 16 with thestructure 24. The depending portion 20 of the key is rounded as shown inFIG. 8 to engage a leaf spring 25.

The box-like structure 24, as shown most clearly in FIG. 4, comprises asheet metal blank having a front wall 35, a rear wall 36 and a bottom37. This box-like structure may be completely formed in two punch pressoperations, the first of which consists in blanking out the aperturesand slots in the blank in one operation and then, in thesecondoperation, folding it to the configuration shown in FIG. 4. In theblanking operation the blank which ultimately forms the box-likestructure 24 has a series of slots 38 with closed ends formed in it andwith a plurality of open ended slots 39 also formed in it. The slots 38and 39 alternate throughout most of the length of the frontand rearwalls and 36 in such a manner that a slot 38 in the rear wall will bedirectly opposite an open ended slot 39 in the front wall and viceversa.

Simultaneously with the blanking of the blank, which is bent to form theboxlike structure 24, mounting holes 40 and 41 are formed in the frontand rear walls of the structure 24, for receiving and supporting a pivotrod 42 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 7). In the blanking operation, forming the blankwhich ultimately becomes. the box-like structure 24, two irregularlyshaped apertures 43 are formed in the front wall 35 which apertures aresubstantially rectangular in shape, but provided with an inwardlyextending projection 44. Mounting apertures ,45 are also formed in theblank at this time, and mounting tabs 46 are sheared from the main bodyof the blank. Contact block mounting slots 47 are also formed in thefront and rear wall portions of the blank at this time as well as springmounting. slots 48 and keyguiding slots 49 (FIG. 5). A pair of apertures50 are also formed in theblank in the front and rear walls 35 and 36 forreceiving a pivot shaft 51,- the' purpose of which will be explainedhereinafter. The base of the box-like structure 24 also has code bar 4guide apertures 52 (FIG. 4) formed in it in the blanking operation.

After all of the perforations and slots have been formed in the blank,the blank is bent to form the front and rear walls 35 and 36 upwardlyfrom the base 37 and also to form the tabs 46. Thus, in two simpleoperations, there is formed the entire supporting and guiding structurefor keys, code bars, T-leve-rs and contact block.

The box-like structure 24 just described serves to support and guide allof thekeys 16 and this structure 24 may be attached to a base casting ormolding designated generally by the numeral 12 by threading machinescrews 61 into posts 62 and 63 at the front and rear respectively of thekeyboard 11. The key members 16 will all be guided by the box-likestructure 24 in cooperation with a top plate 64 of the keyboard 11 whichis provided with apertures 65 in which the keytops 17 are slidable. Theboxlike structure 24 is mounted on the posts 62 and 63 after all of themechanisms supported and guided by it have been assembled with it.

Prior to bending the front and rear walls 35 and 36 upwardly to theposition shownin FIG. 4, and in the same blanking operation wherein theperforations and slots in the front and rear walls are punched and tabs45 sheared, a series of tabs 66 and 67 are formed on the base 37 bypartially shearing the base tobend the tabs 66 and 67 downwardly. Thetab 66, it will be noted by reference to FIG. 5, is appreciably longerthan the tab 67 and is bent down out of the plane of the base 37 to agreater extent than the tab 67 whereby a sheet of spring material 68 maybe attached to the base of the box-like structure. This spring materialis biased in such a manner that, if the sheet 68 were not under tension,the middle of it would bebent downwardly and the outer sides of it wouldbe curved slightly upwardly. This sheet of material is slotted alongbothsides to provide the series of individual leaf springs 25 extendingoutwardly from the main body of the sheet 68. The sheet 68 of springmaterial may be attached to the base 37 by flexing it and sliding thebody portion of it between the tab 66 and the bottom of the base 37 insuch a manner that the bases 69 of several of the slots formed in thesheet 68 will pass beyond the downwardly bent tabs 67 thus to hold allof the leaf springs 25 in position Where there will be one of thembeneath each of the key guiding slots 49. When the sheet metal 68 isassembled with the box-like structure 24, the individual leaf springs 25forming a part of the sheet of spring material 68 will be positioned tourge key members 16, later assembled in the box-like structure 24 totheir upper position. After a sheet of spring material 68 has beenattached to the bottom of the base 37 of the box-like structure 24, thepivot rod 42 may be assembled with the box-like structure 24. Prior toassembling the pivot rod 42 with the box-like structure 24 a pluralityof T-levers 70 are assembled on the rod 42 and are held closely adjacentone to another by a pair of snap-fasteners 71 such for example as thewell-known Tru-arc fasteners which will snap onto the rod 42. The rod 42has annular grooves 72 in it, into which the snap-fasteners, forproperly positioning the T-levers 70 on the rod 42, may be forced. Theends of the rod 42 are of slightly reduced cross section to form annularshoulders 73 at each end of each of the rods 42 for engagement with theinner surfaces, of the front and rear Walls 35 and 36.

A pair of T-levers 70 (FIG. 6), one of which is positioned at each endof the box-like structure 24, serve: to support and guide a pair of codebars and 81 and atie bar 82. All of the T-levers 70 are of exactlythesame construction and each of them is a molded part having a bearingaperture 83 for receiving the pivot rod 42 whereby the T-lever 70 isreadily oscillatable about the pivot rod 42. Each T-lever 70 (FIG. 6)has a pair of code bar pivot arms 84 and 85 formed on it, and the codebar pivotarms 84 and 85 have code bar pivots 86 and 87 projecting fromthem for pivotally supporting the code bar 81 and the code bar 80,respectively. The code bars 80 and 81 have slots 88 and 89 formedtherein for engagement with the pivots 86 and 87, respectively. EachT-lever 70 also has a pair of code bar guide arms 90 and 91 with guidingprojections 92 and 93 on them for en gagement with the code bars 81 and81, respectively. The provision of the guiding projections 92, and 93permits the use of code bars 80 and 81 which need not be smoothlyfinished on their edges, but may be punch press parts from which edgeburrs formed in the blanking of the parts need not be removed.Projections (not shown) are also formed on the arms 84, 85, 94 and 97which are similar to the projections 92 and 93 to prevent the roughedges of the code bars 80 and 81 and the tie bar 82 from rubbing on thefaces of their respective arms.

Also formed on the T-lever 70 is a tie bar pivot arm 94 having a pivot95 extending outwardly from it for entrance into a bearing aperture 96formed adjacent to the end of the tie bar 82. The tie bar 82 after beingassembled with the T-lever 70 is held on the pivot 95 by a guide arm 97.The code bar pivot arm 85 has extending from it a pair of guide fingers98 and 99 which are disposed on opposite sides of a blocking surface 166on the end of the pivot arm 85. These guide fingers serve to maintain acont-act spring 161, such as that shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6, inoperative association with the blocking surface 180.

A tie bar 82 is interconnected with each pair of T-levers 70, in thesame manner illustrated in FIG. 6, prior to mounting the pivot rods 42in the box-like structure 24 and after the pivot rods 42 with the pairsof T-levers 79 on them have been positioned in the structure 24, a pairof code bars 30 and 81 are connected to the T-levers 70 by firstslipping the right end (FIGS. 2 and 6) of the code bar 80 and the leftend of the code bar 81 into posi- ,tion between the guiding projections92 and the flat surfaces of the code bar pivot arm 85, with the slots 88in the code bars 80 and 81 slidably engaging the code bar pivots 87 andwith the slots 89 of the code bars 86 and 81 slidably and pivotallymounted on the code bar pivots 86 of the two T-levers 70. In thisposition the right end of the code bar 81 and left end of the code bar80 will ,be held in operative association with their respective code barpivots 86 by the guide projections 93. When the code bars 80 and 81 areassembled in the structure 24, downwardly extending guide stems 102 onthem will extend into the guide slots 52 in the base 37 to guide thecode bars 80 and 81 when they are manipulated.

After the code bars have thus been positioned, a universal bail 108having bearing apertures 1139 may be flexed and snapped into position onthe inwardly extending projections 44 which project into thesubstantially rectangular apertures 43 formed adjacent to the ends ofthe front wall 45. This universal bail 108 extends transversely of allof the key cross-members 19 for actuation thereby and as shown in FIGS.7, 9 and has a forwardly extending lip 110, which is operative upon theactuation of any key, to actuate a trip lever 111 oscillatably mountedon the pivot rod 42. This trip lever 111 has a projection 112 formed onit for engagement with a bent-over portion 113 of an intermediate lever114 that is urged, by a contractile spring 115, to move downwardly andto oscillate in a counterclockwise direction (FIG. 9) about the pivotrod 42. The bent-over portion 113 of the intermediate lever 114 lies inthe path of movement of the projection 112 on the trip lever 111 andextends across the edge of a blocking lever 116, so that, when the triplever 111 is rocked clockwise (FIG. 9), it will rock the intermediatelever 114 clockwise and the intermediate lever 114 will rock theblocking lever 116 clockwise against the action of a spring 117 attachedto the blocking lever 116. The contractile springs 115 and 117, in thenormal unoperated position of the universal bail 110, will hold theblocking lever-116 and the intermediate lever 114 in the position 6shown in FIG. 9 where the lower end of the blocking lever 116 will liein the path of a clutch trip lever 118 and will prevent the clutch triplever from rocking clockwise (FIG. 9), about its pivot shaft 119 underthe influence of a spring 120. The trip lever 111 is biased in acounterclockwise direction (FIG. 9) by a spring 126 and has an arm 127on it which urges the universal bail 108 to the position shown in FIG.9. The clutch trip lever 118 (FIG. 7) is a bell crank lever and has onearm attached to a clutch trip link 121 which will trip a singlerevolution clutch (not shown), for the distributor 13 in the usualmanner. Each of the T-levers is provided with a locking arm 128 movableacross the path of the trip lever 118 and when the T-levers have beenset in their selected positions under control of the keys 16 of thekeyboard and the code bars and 81, they will be locked in thosepositions by the trip lever 118 when it rocks clockwise (FIG. 7). Thus,when the trip lever 118 is released by blocking lever 116, it will moveinto position to block accidental displacement of the T-levers 70 untilthe code signal has been transmitted by the distributor 13. Thedistributor 13 (FIG. 1), is provided with a stop segment 122, a startsegment 123 and six code segments 124 for controlling the transmissionof a six-unit code in the manner commonly used for a sixth level shiftmodification of the well-known Baudot code.

As is usual in single revolution clutch mechanisms, the trip link 121will be drawn to the right (FIG. 7) after having been moved to the leftto trip the clutch and in being restored to its righthand position justslightly beyond the position shown in FIG. 7, it will reset the entiremechanism for another cycle of operation by sliding the left end (FIG.7), of the lever 118 down past the end of the blocking lever 116 whosespring 117 will move the blocking lever back to the blocking positionshown in FIG. 9. When the clutch, not shown, is tripped, it will supplypower to drive a distributor shaft 131 through a single cycle ofrotation thereby to rotate a distributor arm 132 mounted on the shaft131 through one cycle rotation. This will cause the distributor 13 totransmit pulses representative of a permutation code out onto a signalline, (not shown), or to a selector mechanism (also not shown), forcontrolling the operation of the type wheel assemblage 15.

The permutation code signals transmitted by the distributor 13 areselectively controlled by a plurality of contact springs 101 mounted ina contact block 133 which has been forced into the contact blockmounting slots 4'7. As will been seen by reference to the left end ofFIG. 2 the contact block mounting slots 4'7 have proturberances 134formed on them so that when a block 133 is forced into the slots 47, itwill be gripped and held firmly in the slots. The contact springs 101are urging to engage common contact bar 135 by coiled springs 136 (FIG.3) individual to them and will be blocked from engagement with thecommon contact bar 135 by the surfaces of the T-levers 70 which havebeen rocked to the position shown in FIG. 2 but will be permitted toengage with the common contact bar where the code bars 81) and 81 haveben moved by the keys 16 to rock the T-levcrs 70 to a position oppositeto that shown in FIG. 2. The common contact bar 135 is interconnectedthrough a wire in a cable 138 to a power source (not shown). The contactsprings 101 are connected through wiring in the cable 138 to the codesegments 124 of the distributor 13 and when any of the contact springs101 are permitted by their associated T-levers 70, to engage the commoncontact bar 135 they will connect the power source through brushes onthe distributor arm 132 to a common contact ring 137 which is in turnconnected to the signal line and to the selector mechanism (not shown).

As soon as any key 16 on the keyboard is operated, other than a repeatkey or a shift key to be described more in detail hereinafter, theclutch trip lever 118 will be released and will rock clockwise (FIG. 7)to permit a contact bail link 139 (FIG. 9) to move upwardly under theinfluence of its actuating spring 140. The link 139 has a Shoulder 141formed on it which, upon release of link 139 by the tripping of theclutch trip lever 118, will limit the upward movement of the link 139 byengaging the underside of the base'37 of the box-like structure 24.

The lower end of the link 139 is slidable in a slot 142 formed in thebase 37 and is pivotally attached at its upper end to an arm 143 of acontact spring blocking bail 144. The blocking bail 144 has pivot studs145 formed on its which enter into the apertures 50 in the front andrear walls and 36 of the structure 24 whereby the bail 144 is pivotallymounted in the structure 24. The bail 144 is provided with a contactspring engaging portion 146 that extends transversely of all of thecontactsprings 101 and when the apparatus is in the conditionillustrated in FIG. 9, this contact spring engaging portion 146 willhold all of'the contact springs 101 out'of contact with the commoncontact bar 135. At the end of a cycle of rotation of the distributorshaft 131, the clutch trip link 121 will be moved to the right (FIG. 7)and will restore the link 139 to the position shown in FIG. 9. However,as soon as any of the signal transmitting keys 16 in the keyboard isoperated, the link 139 will be released and will permit the spring 140to move it upwardly (FIG. 9) to move the portion 146 of the bail 144 ina clockwise direction (FIG. 9) to release the contact springs 101 forselective engagement with the common contact bar 135. The keyboard 11 isprovided with a repeat key'155 having shift keys 156 (FIG. 2) which donot affect the signal transmission in the same manner as the remainderof the keys in the keyboard and consequently, these keys 155 and 156are. of slightly different construction than the other keys in thekeyboard but they are guided for reciprocation in the same manner as theremaining keys in the keyboard and may be assembled in a manner similarto the keys which control transmission.

One other key in the keyboard 11 is also slightly different from thekeys 16 and this is the space key or bar 157 which instead of having around keytop on it has an elongated keytop 158 that isslidable in anelongated aperture 159 in the topplate 64. The space key 158 has a stem160 that is slidably mounted in a tab 161 formed out of the front wall35 of the box-like structure 24 which is provided with a suitable slotfor the reception of the lower end of the stem 160. A crossbar 162 isconnected to the stem 160 and extends across the keyboard to a pair ofcross-members 163 (see FIG. 7) positioned toward the opposite ends ofthe box-like structure 24 and each of these cross-members 163 mayactuate a code bar arrangement of code bars 80-81 to selectively setT-leve-rs for controlling the contact springs 101 totransmit a spacesignal. The space key or bar 157 is assembled with its cross-bar 162 andits crossmembers 163 by flexing the cross-bar and cross-member to snapthem together and to attach them to the shank or stem 160 of the key.Unlike the character keys :16, the space bar 157 is urged to itsunoperated position'by coiled springs 166 surrounding shanks 167extending downwardly (FIG. 9), from the cross-members 163.

The repeat key 155 is also provided with a coiled return spring 168 andas shown in FIG. 9, has pivotally mounted on it, a repeat lever 169 forcooperation with the blocking lever 1 16. This repeat lever forms a partof a nonrepeat, repeat tripping mechanism which is described and claimedin the copending application of A. A. 'Hagstrorn Serial No. 159,240filed December 14,

' 1961,now U.S. Patent No. 3,133,988, and further description of itsstructure and operation are not necessary to an understanding of thisinvention; The description of of said patent of A. A. Hagstrom isincorporated herein by reference insofar as is necessary for anunderstanding of this invention. I

Although a particular embodiment of the invention 8 r is shown in thedrawings and described in the foregoing specification, it will beunderstood that the invention is not limited to that specificembodiment, but is capable of modification and rearrangement, andsubstitution of parts and elements without departing from1the scope ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism, a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars, each havingcoded notches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keysextending transversely of. the length of the said code bars forcooperation with said projections and notches to selectively actuatesaid code bars, a code bar support framework having a bottom and frontand rear walls, alternate guide perforati-ons and guide slots formed insaid front and rear walls of said framework for receiving and guidingthe ends of the cross-members of said keys, a pair of pivot rodspositioned in said framework adjacent to the ends thereof and extendingin a direction transverse to the length of said code bars, a contactblock having a plurality of contact springs mounted on it, said frontand rear walls of the framework also being provided with pivot rodapertures and with contact block slots which have surfaces forsupporting and locating the pivot rods and contact block in saidframework, a plurality of T-levers oscillatably mounted on said pivotrods in alignment with the contact springs on the contact block, and atie bar associated with each pair of'code bars, said T-levers beingformed to interconnect the code bars of a pair of code bars and the tiebar and to maintain the code bars and tie bar in predeterminedrelationshipone to the other whereby movement of a code bar by a keywill cause its companion code bar in a pair and its associated tie barto be moved simultaneously with the key actuated code bar whilemaintaining the code bars and tie bar in parallel relation one to theother, said T-levers also having contact actuating extensions on themfor cooperation with the contact springs mounted on the contact blocktoeffect the selective opening and closing of the contact springs.

'2. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism, a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars each having codednotches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keys extendingtransversely of the length of the said code bars for cooperation withsaid projections and notches to selectively actuate said code bars, acode bar support framework having a bottom, and front and rear walls,alternate guide perforations and guide slots formed in said front andrear walls of said framework for receiving and guiding the ends of thecross-members of said keys, a pair of pivot rods positioned in saidframework adjacent to the ends thereof and extending in a directiontransverse to the length of said code bars, said front and rear walls ofthe framework also being provided with pivot rod apertures which have sufaces for supporting and locating the pivot rods in said framework, acontact block having a plurality of contact springs mounted on itsupported by said framework, a plurality of T-levers oscillatablymounted on said pivot rods in alignment with the contact springs on thecontact block, and a tie bar associated with each pair of code bars,said T-levers being formed to interconnect the code bars of a pair ofcode bars and the tie bar and to maintain the code bars and the tie barin predetermined relationship one to the other whereby movement of acode bar by a key will cause its companion code bar in a pair and itsassociated tie bar to be moved simultaneously with the key actuated codebar while maintaining the codebars and tie bar in parallel relation oneto the other, said T-levers also having contact actuating extensions onthem for cooperation with the contact spring mounted on the contactblock to effect the selective opening and closing of the contactsprings.

3. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism, a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars each having codednotches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keys extendingtransversely of the length of the said code bars for cooperation withsaid projections and notches to selectively actuate said code bars, acode bar support framework having a bottom and front and rear wallsformed from a single sheet of sheet metal, alternate guide perforationsand guide slots formed in said front and rear Walls of said frameworkfor receiving and guiding the ends of the cross-members of said keys, apair of pivot rods positioned in said framework adjacent to the endsthereof and extending in a direction transverse to the length of saidcode bars, said front and rear walls of the framework also beingprovided with pivot rod apertures which have surfaces for supporting andlocating the pivot rods in said framework, a contact block having aplurality of contact springs mounted on it and frictionally held on saidframework, a pair of T-levers individual to each pair of code bars andoscillatably mounted on said pivot rods, one of each pair of T-leversbeing in alignment with the contact springs on the contact block, and atie bar associated with each pair of code bars and interconnected withthe pair of T-levers individual to said last-mentioned pair of codebars, said T-levers being formed to interconnect the code bars of a pairof code bars and the tie bar and to maintain the code bars and tie barin predetermined relationship one to the other whereby movement of acode bar by a key will cause its companion code bar in a pair and itsassociated tie bar to be moved simultaneously with the key actuated codebar while maintaining the code bars and tie bar in parallel relation oneto the other, said T-levers also having contact actuating extensions onthem for cooperation with the contact springs mounted on the contactblock to effect the selective opening and closing of the contactsprings.

4. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism, a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars each having codednotches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keys extendingtransversely of the length of said code bars for cooperation with saidprojections and notches to selectively actuate said code bars, aplurality of pairs of T-levers for actuation by said code bars, contactsprings positioned in direct engagement with the T-levers to be guidedand actuated by said T-levers to electrically set up code combinationsfor transmission, a tie bar associated with each pair of code bars forcooperation with the pair of T-levers associated with each set of codebars for maintaining the code bars of its associated pair in parallelismupon manipulation of the code bars by the keys, a pair of pivot rods forpivotally supporting said T-levers, and a framework for supporting andguiding all of said aforementioned parts consisting of a single sheet ofmetal cut and bent to provide guiding and supporting surfaces for saidparts.

5. The keyboard according to claim 4 wherein said framework hassufiicient resilience to be bent for inserting the pivot rods in it andwill return to a condition where it will frictionally hold the rods init.

6. The keyboard mechanism according to claim 4 wherein the keys areresiliently urged to their unoperated position by leaf springsindividual to them which leaf springs are extensions of a single sheetof spring material resiliently held on said framework by tabs bent outof said single sheet of metal.

7. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars each having codenotches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keys extendingtransversely of the length of said code bar for cooperation with saidprojections and notches selectively to actuate said code bars, aplurality of pairs of T-levers for actuation by said code bars, contactsprings positioned to be actuated by said T-levers, a tie bar associatedwith each pair of code bars for cooperation with the pair of T-leversassociated with each set of code bars for maintaining the code bars ofits associated pair in parallelism upon manipulation of the code bars bythe keys, a pair of rods for pivotally supporting the pairs of T-levers,and a framework for supporting and guiding all of the abovementionedparts, said T-levers on both rods each consisting of a single moldedmember of insulating material for direct engagement With the contactsprings.

8. The keyboard according to claim 7 wherein said T-levers eachcomprises a bearing portion for rotatably supporting it on its pivotrods, a contact actuating extension for cooperation with one of thecontact springs, a tie bar pivot stud for connection to its ti bar, codebar pivot studs for connection to its code bars, and guide portions forguiding the contact spring, tie bar, and code bars and maintaining themin proper relation one to another.

9. The keyboard according to claim 8 wherein the T-lever has spacedguide surfaces for engaging opposite sides of each code bar and tie barconnected to it for guiding them.

10. The keyboard according to claim 7 wherein the code bars of each pairof code bars are so disposed on the T-levers that an end of one code barhaving a predetermined oonfiguration is located at an end of theframework opposite to the end of the framework at which the end of theother code bar of the pair with said predetermined configuration islocated.

11. In a telegraph keyboard mechanism, a plurality of keys movablerectilinearly, a set of pairs of permutation code bars each having codednotches and projections thereon, cross-members on said keys extendingtransversely of the length of said code bars, for selective actuation bythe coded projections on the code bars, a code bar supporting frameworkhaving a bottom and front and rear walls, alternate guide perforationsand guide slots formed at the front and rear walls or" said frameworkfor receiving and guiding the cross-member of said keys, a pair of pivotrods positioned in said framework adjacent to the ends thereof andextending in a direction transverse to the length of said code bars, acontact block having a plurality of contact springs mounted on it, saidfront and rear walls of the framework also being provided with pivot rodapertures and with contact block slots which have surfaces forsupporting and locating the pivot rod and contact block, respectively, aplurality of T-levers oscillatably mounted on said pivot rods forguiding and actuating the contact springs on the contact block andpivotally interconnecting the code bars of a pair of code bars, a tiebar associated with each pair of code bars and pivotally supported onthe T-levers, and a universal code bar aligned with the pairs ofpermutation code bars for actuation by all of the keys.

Gubisch Dec. 16, 1941 *EstOup Ian. 10, 1950

1. IN A TELEGRAPH KEYBOARD MECHANISM, A PLURALITY OF KEYS MOVABLERECTILINEARLY, A SET OF PAIRS OF PERMUTATION CODE BARS, EACH HAVINGCODED NOTCHES AND PROJECTIONS THEREON, CROSS-MEMBERS ON SAID KEYSEXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE LENGTH OF THE SAID CODE BARS FORCOOPERATING WITH SAID PROJECTIONS AND NOTCHES TO SELECTIVELY ACTUATESAID CODE BARS, A CODE BAR SUPPORT FRAMEWORK HAVING A BOTTOM AND FRONTAND REAR WALLS, ALTERNATE GUIDE PERFORATIONS AND GUIDE SLOTS FORMED INSAID FRONT AND REAR WALLS OF SAID FRAMEWORK FOR RECEIVING AND GUIDINGTHE ENDS OF THE CROSS-MEMBERS OF SAID KEYS, A PAIR OF PIVOT RODSPOSITIONED IN SAID FRAMEWORK ADJACENT TO THE ENDS THEREOF AND EXTENDINGIN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE LENGTH OF SAID CODE BARS, A CONTACTBLOCK HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONTACT SPRINGS MOUNTED ON IT, SAID FRONTAND REAR WALLS OF THE FRAMEWORK ALSO BEING PROVIDED WITH PIVOT RODAPERTURES AND WITH CONTACT BLOCK SLOTS WHICH HAVE SURFACES FORSUPPORTING AND LOCATING THE PIVOT RODS AND CONTACT BLOCK IN SAIDFRAMEWORK, A PLURALITY OF T-LEVERS OSCILLATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID PIVOTRODS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE CONTACT SPRINGS ON THE CONTACT BLOCK, AND ATIE BAR ASSOCIATED WITH EACH PAIR OF CODE BARS, SAID T-LEVERS BEINGFORMED TO INTERCONNECT THE CODE BARS OF A PAIR OF CODE BARS AND THE TIEBAR AND TO MAINTAIN THE CODE BARS AND TIE BAR IN PREDETERMINEDRELATIONSHIP ONE TO THE OTHER WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF A CODE BAR BY A KEYWILL CAUSE ITS COMPANION CODE BAR IN A PAIR AND ITS ASSOCIATED TIE BARTO BE MOVED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE KEY ACTUATED CODE BAR WHILEMAINTAINING THE CODE BARS AND TIE BAR IS PARALLE RELATION ONE TO THEOTHER, SAID T-LEVERS ALSO HAVING CONTACT ACTUATING EXTENSIONS ON THEMFOR COOPERATING WITH THE CONTACT SPRINGS MOUNTED ON THE CONTACT BLOCK TOEFFECT THE SELECTIVE OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE CONTACT SPRINGS.